Why Chromebooks Are No Joke

Can a sub-$400 Chromebook do the job of a Mac or Windows PC? WSJ Personal Tech columnist Joanna Stern takes a look at how they stack up.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... years ago when Google announced Chromebooks laptops can do anything without him ... it sounded like a job ... the deal would be of laptops that all you browse the Web ... in a thousand at the ... end of the meddling roast chicken ... books are no laughing matter anymore ... when it started out as simple secondary computers ... this will thinking features that bring them closer to Del ... Rio what laptops ... to look like them too ... Samsung's new for Hunter dollars model has a dreamy thirteen inch HD screen or really high-end looking design ... and HP has one for three hundred dollars for a fourteen inch screen and Intel's leaders processors ... that can ... be found for Hunter dollars Crombach's to the job of the Mac or Windows PC ... after living with for a week I can safely say there are no longer a joke ... there's still some things I'd rather do ... on a real laptop ... no I'm not watching ... Netflix at work ... books have been good it's just that watching Netflix stocking people Facebook ... one actually comes to doing we're ... finding that as alternatives to Windows and Mac screen TV programmes actually easier than you think ... in addition to Google docs there's Micra soft word on mine and many companies offer a web version of outlook for your email and calendar there's also the guest Capital editor Copic slurred ... managing others apps is better now too that you can put windows side by side and launch apps from the toolbar to begin to reveal all your apps by swiping up on the track ... does multitasking teachers are useful though there's room for improvement of things and better file management tools ... there's still something camps when it comes to work ... even though there are Wendy's BP and tools for accessing optics network but mostly ... I think this is all for comparable ones ... I do like to live in the cloud in ... the late spring ... you can just want Anupreeta ... Google's concrete only works with select Rangers and setting up is a hassle ... I'm still waiting for my staff to plant ... most other girls played really nicely but the Crombach texture I monitor my external hard drive and my wireless mouse just what he was he below photos up on the computer go this route sixteen gigabytes of space on most of these surreal one should those files to the cloud ... good thing Chromebooks come with a hundred gigabytes of free to drive states but I think this issue with these products has been what happens if there's no internet ... six a lot of that now but it's not perfect you can prepare global driving the boat docks for offline use but they don't always load when you lose that connection ... that said some other third party apps like with no worked really well offline ... what a lap top that only runs Google's Chrome outlets ... actually ... a decent Mac or PC alternative ... that ... a picture from both still can't do all the things the traditional laptop Can and I still prefer my MacBook Air from opaque asking and file organization ... the FOMC's compound do far more than just surf the Web ... we also maintain the range of benefits like could battery life the simple interface ... that sounds good to you ... I'd kill for this one to seventy nine dollars Dell Chromebook eleven ... if you want something with higher resolution screen I'd go for the four mentor dollar Chromebooks two from Samsung ... depending on what you're up to you may never miss the real thing ...